MILESTONES

Enrolled in a dancing school by her mother at age six (date approximate)

1933:

Joined the St. Paul Anglican Church choir in order to develop a singing voice

1938:

Helped support herself and her mother at age 15 when she got a job dancing as part of a chorus at the Palomar Supper Club

1940:

DeCarlo and her mother refused an immigration visa to the US, but sneaked across the border and settled in Hollywood

1941:

Won the title of Miss Venice Beach in a beauty contest; returned to Vancouver briefly in order to get legal visas for herself and her mother and then moved back to the Los Angeles area

1941:

Signed by Paramount to a standard $60/week new player's contract

1942:

Appeared in several short subjects produced by the Soundies Music Corporation

1942:

Film acting debut, on loan-out to Columbia, "Harvard, Here I Come"; appeared mostly as an extra in a series of films at Paramount over the next two years

1943:

First film to feature DeCarlo as more than an extra or in a bit part, "The Deerslayer", made while she was on loan to Republic Studios; played Wah-Tah, a Native American princess betrothed to Larry Parks

1945:

Dropped by Paramount; last film there, "Bring on the Girls", in which she can be spotted in a small role as a hatcheck girl

1945:

Signed by Universal; became a star in the leading role of the hit film, "Salome, Where She Danced"

1950:

After failure of "The Desert Hawk" at the box office, Universal ended her exclusive contract and offered instead to star her in one film a year

1951:

First film as free-lancer, "Hotel Sahara"

1953:

Played one of the starring roles on the NBC one-hour comedy playlet, "Backbone of America"

1953:

First non-US production, "The Captain's Paradise", a British comedy co-starring Alec Guiness and Celia Johnson

1959:

Last film for four years, "Timbuktu"

1959:

Did nightclub tour whose routines included parodies of some of her films; also did occasional TV work, but was semi-retired as she raised her family

1963:

Husband's loss of a leg and his long convalescence led DeCarlo to seek out more acting work

1963:

Returned to films in "McLintock"; played a supporting role and took below-the-title billing

:

TV series debut: played Lily Munster on the CBS horror-spoof sitcom, "The Munsters"

1966:

Reprised her role as Lily Munster for the feature film, "Munster, Go Home"

:

Auditioned for the leading female role of the Stephen Sondheim musical, "Follies", bound for Broadway; lost the role to Alexis Smith but was engaged for a prominent supporting role; received special billing; Sondheim also wrote for her the song, "I'm Still Here"

1972:

Replaced Cyd Charisse on the Australian and New Zealand tour of the stage musical revival of "No, No Nanette"

1974:

First TV-movie, "The Girl on the Late, Late Show"

1981:

Again reprised the role of Lily Munster for the TV-movie, "The Munsters' Revenge"